Universal Petroleum
'' "Wealth from Worthless Sands" -Universal Petroleum's Motto'' Introduction The Universal Petroleum Corporation, commonly abbreviated as UP, is a large Texas-based petrochemical corporation already mining Venezuela's oil supply when your character is introduced in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. For defense of their oil fields and assets, UP has hired the services of mercenaries from Tactical Solutions Inc. UP is headed by Dr. Lorraine Rubin. They control most of the tankers and oil rigs on Lake Maracaibo, and patrol the areas around them with extreme vigilance. They are also seen partrolling the UP refinery but seem to be fighting the VZ forces over it, as VZ soldiers are also seen there. Their boats can be seen around the northern area of the map, on the sea that serperates the mainland with the pirate islands, it is common to see UP and Pirates fighting there. The UP Headquarters UP's HQ is easily one of the tallest buildings in Venezuela. This jet-black monolith can be seen as far away as the Pirate HQ. Prior to the invasion of Venezuela by the AN and the Chinese, Dr. Lorraine Rubin can be found here to offer dangerous, but well paying contracts. The HQ is surrounded by guard towers with troops, several Raven SUV assault units, and anit-tank missile teams. If the player sides with the Chinese, one of their missions involve destroying UP's headquarters. Doing this will permanently destroy the player's positive relationship with UP. To deter such an attack, AN troops, tanks, APCs, missile teams, and helicopters patrol Maracaibo alongside the full bulk of Tactical Solutions's arsenal. Oil Rights According to Fiona, Universal Petroleum tricked the pre-Solano government into giving them exclusive access to their oil, and returning a "ridiculously small cut" as reimbursement. During a mission where the player must help protect David Espinoza as he burns some documents, it is revealed that they were evidence that proved UP's scam against the Venezuelans. David states that they were able to make the Venezuelans pay the UP for their own oil which the UP were drilling for. Small oil rigs can be found all over Venezuela, mostly in Lake Maracaibo, which are mostly protected by Warhorse Patrol Boats and mines. There can also be some drilling platforms found around the outskirts of the UP refinery. Members David Ussery - CEO Blaine Watts - CFO *Victor Contreras - Marketing Executive *Drew Marlowe - Oil Depot Manager *Jim Wahlquist - Militia Commander *Ali Zandi - Militia Commander *Sean McKinney - Militia Commander Michal Silva - Helicopter pilot Tactical Solutions Incorporated Main Article: Tactical Solutions Incorporated Tactical Solutions Incorporated is a Texas-based mercenary company hired by UP to protect their operations and assets in Venezuela. Soldier Classes *The most common soldiers are seen carrying "Flat-Top" M4 carbine Assault Rifles, and are most identifiable by their sunglasses and backwards Baseball caps as well as Delta Force-Style Helmets w/ goggles, they have "short Vests" and have no shoulder lights; they usaually will have one or two holstered handguns on their hips, and usually have kneepads or shinguards and sometimes both. *Heavy troops carried deadlier weaponary such as M249's, RPG-7's, and MGL-140's; these troops also come equiped with a P226 handgun for close encounters. They are most identifiable by there slightly longer vests, and shoulder lights, otherwise they wear everything else the Riflemen do. *Scouts or snipers were seen with M4's as well as SVD Dragunov sniper rifles (arguably the fastest UP Soldier seen); they are most identifieable by their Balclavas w/ goggles, and some have been seen with short vests and long vests, as well as rolled up or not rolled up sleeves and do not carry any holstered weapons; instead they usaully have a pouch on their hip. *A special class is rarely seen; he looked like Drew Marlowe (probably were commanding officers or Sgt.'s) , but wielded M4's; they are most identifiable with their short vests and short sleeved overshirts (?), and sunglasses along with an earset and no head gear, otherwise their attire closley resembles the Riflemen's outfit. *Tanker drivers and gunners carrier the good 'ol Sig Sauer P226 handgun, and thus are one of the most vunerable infantry type in the game; aside from the Chinese who are the hardest to hijack, they are seen with the heavy soldier outfits, except they wear Jet-Black tanker helmets w/ goggles; one has a balclava and goggles w/ the helmet ,while the Ponytail guy and non-Ponytail *short mustache* guy (all the soldiers have desinctive voices) have just the helmets w/ the goggles. *Lastly, there is an "unseen unit" the care taker of the Maracibo Airport outpost, Ali Zandi (for some reason they called him Matt Kresge) he looks like a heavy soldier, wears the delta force style helmet, but wears a balclava with goggles; his unit type is not seen ANYwhere else in the game. Vehicles Universal Petroleum uses a small variety of vehicles, most of which are modified pick-up trucks dubbed the "Raven" and variations of the MH-6 Little Bird Helicopter dubbed the "Rogue". Their heaviest unit is a Mantis Light Tank and their heaviest wheeled vehicle is the Archer Guntruck. They also use the Warhorse Patrol Boat, and UP Inflatable, which they use to great extent to protect their Tankers and the cargo ships. There are vehicles that the player is unable to buy, but they may find and use them; these are the Courser SUV the Orge Semi. Weapons Universal Petroleum mercenaries use the Sig Sauer P226 handgun, an un-modified version of the Colt M4 Carbine, as well as M249 SAW light machine guns, SVD Dragunov sniper rifles, RPG-7 anti-tank rockets, MGL-140 grenade launchers and a number of emplaced weapons. Diplomacy Allies: Allied Nations Enemies: Rastafarian Pirates, People's Liberation Army of Venezuela, China, Venezuela Trivia *Universal Petroleum can, in a certain way, be considered World in Flames's counterpart to the South Koreans from Playground of Destruction. Both are Western-aligned factions and both are actually comprised of two sub-factions: The South Koreans consisted of the South Korean Union and the CIA, while Universal Petroleum consists of the actual Universal Petroleum Corporation and the Tactical Solutions Incorporated mercenary company. Category:Organizations Category:Factions Category:Mercenaries 2